feat: text gate protected mode — standalone text node (backend)

protected=True makes run() emit stored_text and ignore upstream with no pause;
IS_CHANGED caches on stored_text when protected (NaN otherwise). text input is
now optional so the node can run standalone.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 <noreply@anthropic.com>

gates/textgate.py

@@ -22,26 +22,37 @@ class TextGate:
 
     @classmethod
     def INPUT_TYPES(cls):
+        # `text` is optional so the node can run standalone in protected mode.
+        # `protected` + `stored_text` are serializing widgets carrying the
+        # authored text-node state (stored_text is hidden by the frontend).
         return {
-            "required": {
-                "text": ("STRING", {"forceInput": True}),
-            },
             "optional": {
+                "text": ("STRING", {"forceInput": True}),
                 "signal": (ANY, {}),
+                "protected": ("BOOLEAN", {"default": False}),
+                "stored_text": ("STRING", {"default": "", "multiline": True}),
             },
             "hidden": {"unique_id": "UNIQUE_ID"},
         }
 
     @classmethod
-    def IS_CHANGED(cls, **kwargs):
+    def IS_CHANGED(cls, protected=False, stored_text="", **kwargs):
-        return float("nan")
+        # Protected = plain text node: cache on the authored text so downstream
+        # only re-runs when it changes. Otherwise never cache (always pause).
+        return stored_text if protected else float("nan")
+
+    def run(self, unique_id=None, text=None, signal=None,
+            protected=False, stored_text=""):
+        if protected:
+            # Standalone text node: emit the authored text, ignore upstream, no
+            # pause. Returns before importing comfy, so it stays import-safe.
+            return (stored_text, signal)
 
-    def run(self, text, unique_id, signal=None):
         from . import gate_server
         import comfy.model_management as mm
 
         gate_bus.GateBus.arm(unique_id)
-        gate_server.send_text(unique_id, text)
+        gate_server.send_text(unique_id, text or "")
         try:
             edited = gate_bus.GateBus.wait_payload(
                 unique_id, should_cancel=mm.processing_interrupted)

tests/test_textgate.py

@@ -16,3 +16,31 @@ def test_textgate_io_shape():
 def test_textgate_is_changed_nan():
     v = textgate.TextGate.IS_CHANGED(text="hi", unique_id="1")
     assert math.isnan(v)
+
+
+def test_textgate_text_input_is_optional():
+    it = textgate.TextGate.INPUT_TYPES()
+    assert "text" in it["optional"]
+    assert "protected" in it["optional"]
+    assert "stored_text" in it["optional"]
+
+
+def test_textgate_protected_returns_stored_text_without_pause():
+    # protected mode must return the stored text directly — no GateBus, no comfy
+    out = textgate.TextGate().run(
+        unique_id="1", text="from upstream", signal="sig",
+        protected=True, stored_text="my authored text",
+    )
+    assert out == ("my authored text", "sig")
+
+
+def test_textgate_is_changed_protected_returns_stored_text():
+    v = textgate.TextGate.IS_CHANGED(
+        unique_id="1", protected=True, stored_text="frozen")
+    assert v == "frozen"
+
+
+def test_textgate_is_changed_not_protected_is_nan():
+    v = textgate.TextGate.IS_CHANGED(
+        unique_id="1", protected=False, stored_text="ignored")
+    assert math.isnan(v)